By Katie Haas, ACLU Human Rights Program at 5:07pm
Missouri Governor Jay Nixon made the right call on Monday when he vetoed a bill that would have prevented courts from considering foreign law in their decisions. Governor Nixon should be praised for this action, which respects the principles enshrined in our Constitution as well as two hundred years of judicial precedent, and will protect Missourians from the unintended but very negative consequences of such a bill.
By Diane Balogh, ACLU of Eastern Missouri at 4:44pm
Book banning still makes headlines, but today the practice seems pretty old school. The 21st century form of censorship has now become Internet filtering.
By Tanya Greene, Advocacy and Policy Counsel, ACLU at 5:02pm
Monday, a “special master” in St. Louis begins review of the case of Reggie Clemons to determine if his trial was fair and his death sentence is just. Reggie Clemons is on Missouri’s death row for murders he did not commit.
Today, the U.S. has the highest incarceration rate of any country in the world. With over 2.3 million men and women living behind bars, our imprisonment rate is the highest it's ever been in U.S. history. And yet, our criminal justice system has failed on every count: public safety, fairness and cost-effectiveness. Across the country, the criminal justice reform conversation is heating up. Each week, we feature our some of the most exciting and relevant news in overincarceration discourse that we've spotted from the previous week. Check back weekly for our top picks.
Skyrocketing corrections budgets have fixed state lawmakers' attention on the problem of mass incarceration, and smart reform — reducing prison populations and spending while keeping communities safe — is starting to happen. Nonetheless, some states have been slow to respond. In the early months of 2012, a number of states' chief justices told their legislators to wake up to the growing problem and suggested reforms that would be good for both budgets and public safety.
This week, a college in Missouri broke the law and violated the Fourth Amendment rights of its students. Linn State Technical College became the first public institution of higher learning to implement mandatory drug testing of all new students, as well as those returning from extended leaves of absence.
